A sell out crowd squeezed into the Portland Art Museum earlier this summer to experience ICON8, the world’s premier illustration conference, where Art Center leaders dominated the spotlight. More than a year in the planning, ICON8 is a must-go event for anyone serious about illustration and eager to mingle with all the key trade influencers.

Just being invited to speak is an honor in the illustration world, on par with headlining at SXSW, screening your film at Cannes or showing your classic wheels at Pebble. Organizers, who aim to amaze, inform and inspire, select only the top illustrators, designers, art directors, educators, reps, publishers and makers to occupy the main stage or lead workshops.

Illustration student Eszter Chen has designed a floral take on New York in an unexpected spot: a ceramic lamp.

The piece, titled “Manhattan Rose,” is wrapped with hand-painted roses and ladybugs, the state flower and insect, and a map of Manhattan with stems as streets and leaves as signs.

“When people think of New York, they think of love and passion,” she said. “Instead of an urban place, I wanted to use more natural elements.”

Chen and 11 other students in Ann Field’s Illustration for License class, which applies illustration to interior products, have spent the two weeks hand crafting New York-themed lamps. Coronet Lighting will display the pieces as part of its “Lamps as Art” exhibition at the Boutique Design New York Show Nov. 11 to 12.

In addition to The History of Space Photography, which explores the beauty, mystery, science and meaning of images depicting our planet and worlds beyond, and a free dress rehearsal of John Cage’s 4′33″ (no. 2) (0′00″) in preparation for Saturday’s performance by Grammy Award-winning Southwest Chamber Music, visitors to Art Center’s Hillside Campus during ArtNight Pasadena this Friday, March 9 from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. can support the ”Friends of the Bad Weather Shelter” by purchasing a T-shirt for only $20.00.

Bus shelter poster designed by alumnus Patrick Hruby to create awareness of "Friends of the Bad Weather Shelter."

In the Fall of 2011, due to budget restraints and the recent economic downturn, local and federal funds were cut considerably, negatively impacting the Bad Weather Shelter, which provides numerous services to Pasadena’s homeless during the winter months. In response, Rebecca Huang, a local high school senior, started a creative program that encourages 100 local businesses and/or individuals to become “Friends” of the shelter for only $600 a year, which would offset the funds lost due to budget cuts and enable the shelter to continue to provide this important humanitarian service.

Soon after Rebecca launched her campaign, Art Center’s Designmatters and Illustration Departments partnered with the City of Pasadena to develop an effective campaign to create awareness of the program. In January of this year, the City of Pasadena implemented three posters art directed by Ann Field (Chair, Illustration Department) and illustrated by recent alumnus Patrick Hruby (Illustration, ’10) on 20 bus shelters throughout the city.

As a continuation of that campaign, proceeds from the sale of the “Bad Weather” T-shirt directly benefit the Pasadena Bad Weather Shelter. So far, the entire campaign has raised roughly $15,000 from local businesses and individuals.

Last spring, Blik participated in the Art Center’s Advanced Illustration Studio class. Fourteen students at the Pasadena campus enrolled in the course, which is part of the Illustration Department curriculum that focuses on design beyond the printed page. Led by the chair of the illustration department, Ann Field, the upper-term class taught applications for illustration including wall graphics, fabric, ceramic plates and interior design.

According to Field, part of the magic was how quickly the project with Blik was pulled together. Each student created one design and submitted it to Blik to be turned into a printed wall graphic. During the process, Blik tutored the students in how to create and set up their illustrations as files for print production. The final designs were presented and installed in the classroom.

“One of the great things about this class is the opportunity to work with companies, like Blik, who have a high-design aesthetic and impeccable attention to detail,” says Field. “These qualities combined with Blik’s contemporary products and history of working with established artists makes for a good working partnership.”

Blik also worked with one of Art Center’s star graduating students and Spring 2010 valedictorian, Patrick Hruby, to manufacture his final project, Imagine Something Beautiful. Each year, the Art Center faculty gives a wall in the main school entrance way to one student to display their final project. Patrick’s project was selected for the space and he approached Blik to help execute his vision.

Blik is proud of the students’ work and looks forward to continuing our relationship with Art Center again in the future.